1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to tray accumulator systems for dish trays and the like. More particularly, the invention relates to the accumulation and high density storage of food and dishes on cafeteria trays, banquet trays, bus boxes, bun pans, dish racks, or other containers in a large volume food or beverage operation and the removal and storage of said items from the dining area for cleaning at a later time.
2. Description of The Related Art
Conveyor systems for dish trays are old in the art. Large volume food operations are extremely labor intensive and the ability to remove and store soiled dishes for processing at off-peak times is a desirable feature of those systems. U.S. Pat. No. 4,676,365 relates to a motor-driven endless tray accumulator in which an endless train of soiled dish receiving racks are supported by dollies that are moved continuously along an oval track. Each rack is mounted on a dolly and receives a plurality of dish trays. An operator removes the trays with soiled dishes from the racks. One of the problems of this system is that it is extremely labor intensive and the ability to queue up dish trays and accumulate a large quantity of trays prior to processing is limited. There is a need for high density storage of dish trays that does not require constant operator intervention.
Large volume food and beverage operations typically have peak processing periods around or following the meal time period. Because of this, dishwashing areas have a large variation in the work load. Further, the dish room operators have no way to control the flow of dishes to them during peak periods. The result is that dishes must be accumulated prior to processing. Another problem is having space available for the customer to deposit a tray of soiled dishes. In the prior art dish processing systems, a conveyor that has been filled with trays would sometimes require the customer to wait until an open spot in the conveyor was available.